Aside
As a monarch butterfly conservation advocate and author/illustrator of the children’s book AMAZING MATILDA, I was fortunate to capture several photos of these amazing butterflies at our farmstead in Central Maine this summer. This one landed on our phlox. Read along to discover more about our amazing monarch butterflies, and about my children’s picture book as well.
Here’s wishing that all of your days be amazing!
~ Bette A. Stevens
Monarch butterflies are a near-threatened species. The Center for Biological Diversity and the Center for Food Safety filed a legal petition requesting Endangered Species Act protection for the monarch and its habitat.
Eighth-generation monarch butterflies in the US and Canada migrate south each fall—destination: Mexico and California’s coast where they over-winter before mating to create the first generation of monarchs for the northern migration that begins the following spring.
About Bette’s award-winning monarch butterfly children’s book
One concern parents have is how to inspire their children to meet challenges with patience and persistence. This is the plot of the award-winning picture book, AMAZING MATILDA: A Monarchs Tale, written and illustrated by Bette A. Stevens. In this story a caterpillar wants to learn how to fly. She asks all of her friends in the meadow, but doesn’t find an easy answer. Yet, she continues the quest until, at last, she becomes what she wants to be—a butterfly. AMAZING MATILDA offers adults the opportunity to inspire the children in their lives to meet everyday challenges with patience and persistence. Matilda and her friends will show them how to make their own dreams come true!
AMAZING MATILDA is available in Paperback ($9.49) and eBook ($3.99) versions OR purchase paperback and download the eBook for FREE! Take a “Look inside” at YOUR AMAZON
Stevens, a retired teacher, accurately portrays the Monarch’s life cycle in storyline and illustration. She has done extensive research on the Monarch: its diminishing habitat (milkweed plant) and its status as an indicator species in the global environment. During her research, she learned that Monarch markings are different for males and females. Males have black spots on their back wings. Hence, her story title: AMAZING MATILDA, (no black spots) was “hatched.” The Monarch is unique among butterflies: the only one of its genus that does not hibernate, but migrates instead.
- Explore Bette’s blog to find out more about monarch butterflies, download her FREE PDF + a FREE poster about how YOU can help protect
these amazing creatures (top tabs of blog).
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Bette A. Stevens, Maine Author 
Written
on 05/08/2019